“Just trust me, Lord Theo!”
For Lord Theo! Kona, with a determined look, jumped onto the back of theke turtle.
Ssh.
Ssh.
With short limbs iling in the air, Kona glided as much as possible, and dived into the water. Kona swam hard and climbed onto the back of theke turtle.
“Is this the shell of theke turtle?”
Kona spoke, looking at the red back of theke turtle. The shell was densely packed with holes that looked like volcanic craters, varying in size from small to massive.
It looked sturdy, and Kona thought it seemed like a good material for making equipment, though they would have to refine it first to be sure.
Just then,
Scrape.
Krueng?
[Did Konae to take this too?]
Cuengi, who had already settled on the back of theke turtle, spoke up. Cuengi had been busy prying off pieces of the turtle’s shell and stuffing them into its snack pouch.
“Yes!”
Kona, thinking Cuengi also came to mine the shell, responded and began to dig into the turtle’s shell with a pickaxe.
ng! ng!
After about 10 minutes of pickaxing by Kona, a piece of theke turtle’s shell came off.
“Peng?”
Beneath it, the real shiny shell appeared.
“Then what’s this?”
Kona was confused, looking at the stone she had mined when,
Puaang!N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.
[My back feels cool!]
Theke turtle let out a pleased cry.
“Back? Huh?! What are you guys doing there?”
Sejun, who had been creating ice for theke turtle, asked Cuengi and Kona, who were on the turtle’s back.
Krueng!
[Daddy, Cuengi dug up oysters!]
Cuengi proudly showed Sejun what he had dug up from the turtle’s back, waving them in its hands in response to Sejun’s question.
“Oysters?!”
At a nce, it was obviously wasn’t oysters, but to Cuengi, the closest thing in his knowledge was oysters.
“Wait a minute. Ice cube.”
Sejun made an ice bridge to move over to the turtle’s back to properly examine and exin what was attached to the shell.
“These are Bnidae. So, this is why you felt hot.”
Sejun touched the red Bnidae and spoke. They were slightly hot to the touch, and the parts touching the turtle’s back would be even hotter.
At that moment,
[You have discovered the reason why theke turtle cannot sleep.]
[The quest has been updated.]
[Quest: Remove all the Bnidae parasitizing the body of theke turtle!]
Reward: 130,000 experience points, 13,000 Tower coins, flourishing of theke turtle, an endangered species, in 100 years.
With the quest update, the rewards increased slightly.
“Good.”
The quest, motivating Sejun, who was already eagerly picking off Bnidae and thinking about the tastiest way to eat them.
“Cuengi, these are called Bnidae.”
Sejun told Cuengi the name of the creatures attached to the turtle’s back.
Krueng?! Krueng?
[They’re not oysters?! Then we can’t eat them?]
Cuengi was shocked at Sejun’s words, bing gloomy at the thought of not being able to eat something tasty.
“No, you can eat these too. And they’re very delicious.”
Krueng?!
[Really?!]
“Yes. So let’s work hard to pick them!”
Krueng! Krueng!
[Got it! Cuengi will pick the most!]
“Puhuhut, not while Vice Chairman Theo with Dragon w is here, meow!”
Thus began thepetition to collect Bnidae began. This time, Sejun did not stop them since there was no reason to intervene as they weren’t causing harm to their surroundings.
“Kona, call the other penguins too.”
“Yes!”
Sejun involved the penguins, making them collect Bnidae off the turtle’s back.
***
“Just you wait!”
Aileen, searching everywhere with the crystal orb for the Three Head Society.
[A being with the aura of destruction has infiltrated the ck Tower.]
“Huh? Aura of destruction?”
Upon receiving the alert, Aileen immediately checked the location where the rm had sounded and was able to locate Mister One, the boss of the Three Head Society with a ‘1’ on his mask, on the first floor of the tower.
“So, this guy is the one who messed with my Sejun’s family. Iona, go to the foggy area on the 59th floor of the tower. The Three Head Society’s hideout is there.”
While keeping an eye on Mister One, whom she found by chance, Aileen sent Iona to take care of the hideout that Mister One had passed. True to her title of the Great Destructive Wizard, Iona erased the existence of the Three Head Society’s hideout and its members from the tower.
As Aileen was monitoring Mister One, he entered a cave on the 47th floor of the tower and stopped moving.
“Iona, the northern cave on the 47th floor. I’ve marked it, so go and take care of it.”
Believing this to be thest hideout of the Three Head Society, they decided to deal with Mister One.
“Kuhhh, it’s over!”
Aileen, whose body had be stiff from looking at the crystal orb for a long time, stretched herself.
Just then,
“Huh?! What’s that?”
She spotted the leather vest that Sejun had asked her to appraise. She had been so focused on searching for the Three Head Society that she’d forgotten all about it.
“Hehehe. I need to appraise this quickly and give it to Sejun.”
Aileen used her appraisal magic on the leather vest.
***
Two hourster.
“It’s much cleaner now.”
Sejun, who had been freezing the ind,mented upon seeing that about a quarter of the bnidae that had filled theke turtle’s back were gone.
“Time to make lunch.”
Sejun moved to thekeside, gathered some branches from around, and piled them up on the ground. The lunch menu was grilled bnidae. He took out some bnidae he had stored in the void storage andid them on top of the branches.
Snap.
Fwooosh.
Sejun created fire with a snap of his fingers and began grilling the bnidae whole on the branches. Since bnidae naturally possess a high tolerance to heat due to their inherent high temperature, so Sejun produced a high heat with his Talent: Enhanced Fire Mastery
Krueng!
[It smells delicious!]
As the bnidae cooked to a certain degree, Cuengi, drawn by the aroma, began to waddle around, and other penguins also subtly gathered.
“Puhuhut! Victory is mine, meow!”
Theo, uninterested in the bnidae, stayed on theke turtle’s back, diligently removing more bnidae.
“They’re cooked well. Let’s eat!”
After trying one of the grilled bnidae, Sejun spoke to the animals.
Krueng!
[Thank you for the meal!]
“Thank you for the meal!”
Cuengi and the penguins began to eat the bnidae they held.
However,
“Peng!”
Unlike Cuengi, who was enjoying his meal, the penguins who had grabbed the bnidae hurriedly dropped them and rushed into theke to cool their hands. The bnidae were too hot.
Unlike Cuengi, who could easily ignore most things with his tough skin, the penguins were quite sensitive.
“Cool them down here before eating, guys.”
Feeling sympathetic towards the penguins in the same plight, Sejun made ice cubes and ced the bnidae on them to cool.
Just as everyone was enjoying their meal,
Thump.
A fist-sized red bead rolled out from the flesh of the giant bnidae Cuengi was eating and rolled and stopped in front of Sejun.
“What’s this?”
It was clearly a inner core from the bnidae.
‘Is it another bitter one?’
As Sejun was about to pick up the bead with a tense expression,
Krueng!
[That’s definitely for Dad!]
Cuengi confirmed Sejun’s thoughts. It was a bitter core.
Sejun picked up the bead and checked its options.
[Fiery Bnidae’s Inner Core]
→ This is a core from a Bnidae that has parasitized on theke turtle and grown by absorbing the turtle’s energy for a thousand years.
→ Upon consumption, it increases strength by 20 or increases potential strength by 10.
→ It enhances me-rted talents slightly upon consumption.
→ It has a strong bitter taste.
→ Usage restriction: Lv. 30 and above, Strength 20 or more
→ Grade: B
Munch.
Without hesitation, Sejun put the Bnidae core into his mouth. It was easier to eat it quickly than to waste energy pondering whether to eat it or not.
‘Pain is temporary, stats are forever!’
Gritting his teeth, he endured the rising bitterness and consoled himself.
Gulp.
After bearing with the bitterness, Sejun swallowed the core.
[You have consumed the Fiery Bnidae’s Inner Core.]
[Your potential strength increases by 10.]
[Your existing me-rted talents have been enhanced.]
“Good.”
His mouth was bitter, but his heart was firm.
Just then,
Click.
“Huh?”
Dadadada.
A penguin ced a single red core in front of Sejun and ran away. It had given Sejun the core that came from the Bnidae it was eating.
Stare.
From a distance, the penguin watched to see if Sejun would enjoy the core it had given. Quite anxiously.
Overwhelmed by the intense stare, Sejun swallowed the Bnidae’s inner core right away. He thought it better to consume it while the bitter taste still lingered in his mouth.
“Gugh…”
Gulp.
[You have consumed the Fiery Bnidae’s Inner Core.]
[Your strength increases by 10.]
[Your existing me-rted talents have been enhanced.]
Although the bitterness was no different from the first one he had eaten, this time the options were as good as the first one, perhaps because the bnidae was younger.
As Sejun was cutting the meat into manageable pieces after swallowing two cores,
“Huh?!”
He felt something hard and spherical inside. Another core?
Without suspicion, Sejun reached into the flesh,
“Chairman Park! No, meow!”
Theo, who had been diligently removing and collecting bnidae from the back of theke turtle, sensed danger approaching Sejun’s knee and hurried over.
But it was toote.
With the core already in hand, Sejun.
[You havee into contact with the Essence of Fire.]
[Your body has received a critical injury.]
[
has been activated.]
[Consuming magic power to prevent your body from disintegrating.]
[You are critically low on magic power.]
[Dragon Tribe Skill – Dragon Skin is activated.]
[The scales of the great ck dragon Kaiser have been destroyed.]
“Aargh!”
Sejun felt a searing pain in his hand.
And then,
Boom!
An explosion from the core sent him flying into theke.
“Chairman Park! Are you okay, meow?”
Theo hurried into the water, pulling Sejun out of theke to check his condition. Fortunately, other than his body feeling as hot as fire and minor burns on his right hand, there seemed to be no serious injuries.
Press. Press.
Pressing his paw on Sejun’s right hand, Theo used the healing skill.
Krueng! Krueng!
[Daddy… It’s hot. Please, get up, daddy!]
Cuengi also rushed over in a panic, not knowing what to do, and massaged Sejun’s legs while crying.
“Don’t worry, Cuengi, meow! I’ll heal Chairman Park, meow! Cuengi, go fetch some water to cool him down, meow!”
Krueng!
[Okay!]
Cuengi brought water in a bnidae shell, continuously doused Sejun’s body.
For over an hour, as Theo and Cuengi were cooling and attending to Sejun,
[The Tower’s Administrator is infuriated, questioning why Sejun has fainted.]
[The Tower’s Administrator inquires why Sejun’s body is filled with fiery energy.]
Aileen, who had been about to give Sejun an appraised leather vest, asked Theo in anger, noticing that Sejun’s body was so full of fiery energy that it seemed he might burst into mes at any moment.
“Aileen, Chairman Park got hurt touching that core over there, meow! But he’s not waking up, meow!”
Whoosh.
Pointing at the red core that continued to produce intense heat since the explosion, Theo exined.
Swoosh.
Aileen hurriedly collected the core. Knowing its true nature was crucial to understanding why Sejun had copsed.
But,
“Ouch, it’s hot!”
The red core was so hot that not even Aileen could touch it.
“Grandfather! Help!”
Aileen quickly called for Kaiser’s assistance.
As everyone was worried about Sejun,
[You have absorbed a minute amount of the fiery energy.]
[Your fire attribute talent has been enhanced.]
Sejun was gradually absorbing the fiery energy within his body, enhancing his fire attribute talent.